Seattle Approves Nation's First Safe Injection Sites In Fight Against Opioid Crisis

In a desperate move to curb Seattle’s deadly opioid crisis, city and county officials have approved a pair of safe sites where addicts will be able to inject heroin and other illegal narcotics under medical supervision. The sites, which are common in European countries, would be the first of their kind in the United States, The Seattle Times and The Washington Post report. Late last week, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine signed off on a list of recommendations put forward last year by a 40-member Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force. Those recommendations, including the controversial facilities, seek to “confront the heroin and opioid epidemic” in King County through prevention, increased access to treatment and reducing the number of fatal overdoses, the county said in a release. “Opioid addiction is killing people in our community, sparing no age, race, sexual identity, income level or neighborhood,” Constantine said in a statement, adding that the task force provided officials with “a plan to save lives.” Although exact locations for the sites have not yet been identified, the plan calls for two pilot facilities, first in Seattle and later in the surrounding county. They are expected to provide access to clean needles, connect addicts with treatment services, and be staffed with medical personnel to supervise drug use and administer Naloxone, a medication that bloc...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news